Snatchers revisit Gurgaon

After a brief lull, the dreaded motorcycle-borne gang of snatchers struck again in Gurgaon, when they attacked a woman entrepreneur on Saturday and snatched cash and other belongings from her near a mall on busy MG Road.

After a brief lull, the dreaded motorcycle-borne gang of snatchers struck again in Gurgaon, when they attacked a woman entrepreneur on Saturday and snatched cash and other belongings from her near a mall on busy MG Road. Shoppers, mostly women, on this mall-mile have been targeted earlier also, despite the presence of beat constables and two police posts here.

Interestingly, the snatchers used the robbed credit cards to shop at malls here till the cards were blocked for transactions by the banks. The affected women say Gurgaon is not safe for the women.

The latest victim of the snatchers' gang is Gauri Sareen, a resident of DLF City who was waiting for her car and driver near DLF City Centre Mall. “It was only 6:45 p.m. All of a sudden, a motorcycle emerged from nowhere and the rider snatched my purse that carried Rs. 15-20 thousand in cash, my credit and debit cards, my mobile set, PAN and other documents," said Sareen.

Sareen also suffered bruises on her arm. She said, "It is more than shocking that snatchers struck when a traffic police post was a few yards away at City Center Mall. Unfortunately, the traffic cops refused to help on the pretext of jurisdiction hassles and directed me to Sector 29 police station instead."

Even women expats who turn to the malls at MG Road to shop have not been spared. Anjali Sawhney, a HR executive said "My roommate and German national Antje was robbed and injured right in front of Metropolitan Mall. She was so scared she left the city and moved to Kolkatta last year," she added.

However, deputy commissioner of police S.K. Gupta claimed police had succeeded in taming the gang and Saturday’s incident was a ‘stray case’.